Online Reporter
JAMIE VARDY says N’Golo Kante only went on to become a World Cup winner after he and his Leicester team-mates intervened.
The midfielder, 35, got his hands on football’s biggest prize when France beat Croatia in the 2018 final.
And Kante was also a key part of the squad which only missed out on defending their crown thanks to a nail-biting penalty shootout loss to Argentina four years ago.
But Vardy has revealed the Leicester and Chelsea icon initially planned to pledge his allegiance to Mali.
Kante was on course to snub France because of the close bond with his parents.
Vardy, who is a free agent after quitting Cremonese, said: “He wanted to represent Mali instead of France to honour his father’s roots. We convinced him he’d win the World Cup with France.
“At Chelsea, he even gave his Mini Cooper to his parents back in the village and bought himself another after his team-mates joked about the old one.”
Vardy, 39, and Kante became close pals when they spearheaded Leicester’s shock push for Premier League glory a decade ago.
They made 34 appearances together as the Foxes’ squad wrote their names into the history books.
But Kante quit Leicester after Chelsea agreed a bargain deal worth £30million.
He went on to bag a second Premier League title during a trophy-laden spell at Stamford Bridge.
Kante added the Champions League, Super Cup, Europa League, Club World Cup and FA Cup to his personal haul before landing a mega-money contract at Al-Ittihad.
The Chelsea legend is now on Fenerbahce’s books following a transfer saga earlier this year.
A deadline day move to the Turkish giants fell through because of an administrative error. Al-Ittihad then agreed to terminate his deal, allowing him to eventually join Fenerbahce.
Kante was included in France’s squad for the World Cup – but he was not handed a single minute of action by outgoing boss Didier Deschamps – Sun.
